Customer Reviews

Crimson Stain: The Shocking True Story of the Only Amish Man Ever Convicted of Homicide (Berkley True Crime)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I was living in Erie, Pa., at the time of this killing and took Jim Fisher into the settlement to first introduce him to the Brownhill Amish where the killing occurred. I had studied, written and lectured on Amish society for more than 20 years prior to this killing. I wrote accounts of the killing for several large newspapers. Jim Fisher did a very good job in researching the information; I know he had compiled a lot of research well before the book was published, and I'm curious why it took so long to get the book out. This was a fascinating story for me to cover; the Brownhill Amish were the most unusual and difficult Amish settlement I had encountered in my years of involvement with the Amish. As Fisher indicates in his book, everything that could go wrong did within this Amish settlement, setting the stage for this tragic killing. I call it a killing and not homicide because he was convicted of involuntary manslaughter but mentally ill in Katie's death. Eddie Gingerich has contacted me three or four times recently; he is in a halfway home and said that his counselor was reading one chapter to him at a time. After my stories, several hundred Amish wrote me asking for latest information on modern day treatments for mental illness. I made it a mission of sorts in memory of Katie Gingerich to educate as many Amish as possible about mental illness and modern treatments. She above all in her heavenly rest understands why it happened and what I tried to do for her husband and Amish. If you like, you can email me at timamish@msn.com

Author Jim Fisher is not only a fine and careful journalist and social historian, he's a first-class storyteller. I just finished his latest book, "Crimson Stain", and I could not put it down! Fisher skillfully takes the reader into the darkest shadows of Amish life. No writer, to the best of my knowledge, has ever been able to probe so deeply into the lives of these fascinating and mysterious people--and since no Amish person has ever been accused of murder, Fisher's book is a one of a kind read. And what a read it is, brutal in its reality but written with the haunting, imaginative touch of a top notch novelist. "Crimson Stain" is a complex, artfully layered tale of desperation, secrecy and fear. On one level Fisher tells the gripping story of progressive madness erupting into deadly violence. On another plane Fisher shows how ill-equipped the criminal justice system is in dealing with paranoid schizophrenia and murder. There is more: a Fisher wild card, subtle yet powerful, involving a zealous evangelical connection, allows, as well, the possibility of an indirect casualty in an ongoing holy war. And finally, Fisher challenges the reader to reconsider the unholy relationship between serious mental illness and criminal homicide. Is it the madness that kills or the person beneath it? Regarding murder, is madness an association or cause? These are big questions worthy of consideration and it's obvious the Fisher knows this. On this point alone "Crimson Stain" is an important and timely book. Jim Fisher's relentless, brutally accurate and insightful presentation of violence and sudden death as it really is--dangerous and evil--will reshape our thinking of the rampage killers America seems to be breeding at an alarming rate. This is true crime at its best with Fisher at the top of his game. A must read with this warning: don't start the book on a bus, if you do you'll miss your stop. Even so, it will be worth the ride. Trust me on this one.

Jim Fisher's "Crimson Stain" provides a fascinating look at Amish culture and customs while weaving together the tragic circumstances and events concerning the first Amish man accused of murder in the United States. He also poses some excellent "big questions" concerning Amish culture, as opposed to "English" culture, and a possible cultural clash that may or may not have influenced Ed Gingerich's thinking prior to the death of his wife Katie. However, I do agree with several other reviewers, who were disappointed that Mr. Fisher did not "finish" the story by providing details concerning what happened after Edward Gingerich was released. A few reviewers mentioned Ann Rule's style...and I agree that her epilogues provide a most satisfactory conclusion to True Crime tales. Mr. Fisher's book would have benefitted had it ended with an epilogue providing some detail concerning the aftermath of Ed Gingerich's release. Thanks to reviewers Brenda and Tim Moriarty for providing some details! When all's said and done however, Mr. Fisher still tells a compelling tale, and tells it very well. This book is well worth reading...and reviewer Dan Barber is right...don't read it on the bus...or on a plane as I did...the first time. "Crimson Stain" is well worth reading (and re-reading.) Despite the somewhat anticlimactic conclusion, Mr. Fisher raises excellent questions concerning Amish culture and "English" culture; the conflict therein is both timely and thought provoking. This is not a story of simply right and wrong...or good and evil. "Crimson Stain" forces one to notice, and then examine, all the compelling shades of grey in between.

Like a monkey's eye to a key hole...Crimson Stain, Jim Fisher's research into a murder in an Amish community, has given insight into a rigid and little understood people. They are revealed in a daily dialogue of tradition and like even the most common of us, the potential for murder and maddness. How similar are we, to those who are so different? Hat's off to you Jim - a plain people handsomely portrayed in an empathetic and nonjudgemental manner.

Ed is shunned from his Brownhill Amish community and is allowed to see his children for one hour once a year. He writes and receives letters from them and his family. He is currently at a specialized Amish community with people of his faith who also have similar mental problems, where he helps counsel, and works 15 miles away for a Mennanite farmer doing mechanical work. He recently rebuilt a molding machine that can be used to make tongue and groove flooring.

He's staying on his medication regimen and communicates "normally", and clearly. He sounds like he is in fairly good spirits over the phone. I talked to him for about a half an hour on October 30, 2005 and we talk several times a year.

Katie's mother moved to NY state to get away from the area and the memories of all that had happened. Katie's brother, Emmanuel Shetler, built my house and several out buildings.
This entire tragedy would have never happened if his community and family understood that mental illnesses do exist and that Eddie suffered greatly. By simply saying "the Devil" was in him or made him do it, is a poor summary of the situation. With the proper medication, from the right doctor, this could have all been prevented.

And for those of you who labeled Eddie as a quick-tempered bully, I've known Ed 2 years before the tragedy and never heard him raise his voice. We drove 6 hours to Lancaster, PA to look at a diesel engine that he saw advertised in an Amish paper, and when we got there and saw the engine, it was not as described in the ad. He did not show any anger or hostility. Not one negative comment.

This is the best book about a crime committed in the Amish community since "Abandoned Prayers" was published in 1990. This book gives an excellent glimpse into the world of Amish culture and beliefs.

Ed Gingerich was a dangerously mentally ill man. Volatile and erratic, he displayed streaks of violent behavior towards his brothers as a boy. These volatile tendencies would follow him into adulthood.

Bitter and apparently chafing at living within the tighly knit, close knit Amish community which allows for only a minimal nod to the modern society, Gingerich seemed determined to leave the Amish community from an early age. Irate that one of their own was siding with the "English," (an Amish term for any non-Amish person), other Amish began rejecting Ed. His wife Katie, a traditional Amish wife was often the target of his wrath. He inflicted mental and physical cruelty upon her and was hospitalized after an especially violent psychotic episode. He ultimately kills Katie in front of their children! After Katie's death, Ed Gingerich became the first Amish man ever tried for murder and committed to a hospital. Ed Gingerich, at the time of this writing remains a living casualty of mental illness and is still in a maximum security hospital.

While I found the book very interesting and an absorbing read, my major complaint is that, although Ed Gingerich's trial was in 1994, and the book was published in 2000, the book stops abruptly after the trial and sentencing. The author should take a tip from Ann Rule and give the reader some follow up. How did Ed adjust to jail? What happened to his children? In fact, Ed apparently was released prior to the book's publishing (thanks, Brenda from Pennsylvania for shedding some light on that!) but there is no mention of that fact at all. The lack of any further information somewhat spoiled the enjoyment of the book for me.

I have the greatest respect for the Amish historically as committed pacifists who try to live out the New Testament's radical call to brotherhood, non-violence, and anti-materialism. However, this book made me seriously question whether the state is doing the right thing in allowing them to remove their children from school after the eighth grade on religious grounds. By doing so they make it extremely difficult for anyone who finds themselves unsuited to their way of life to leave. Ed Gingrich wanted to leave the Amish before his marriage, but with no education he had very minimal opportunity to do so. This created huge tension in his life from the very beginning. Lack of education was also a direct cause of the very poor medical care that he received -- his family putting equal faith in medical doctors, chiropractors, and an "iridologist" who diagnosed illness by looking into people's irises. Without any education, who can blame them? They have been deliberately and intentionally made dependent on the community and the "bishop" precisely so that they CAN'T, even if so chose, make well-informed decisions on their own. I wonder if there is not a "warm and fuzzy" attitude towards the Amish that borders on patronizing which prevents people from taking an objective look at what is going on. Recent revelations about serious child abuse in some segments of the community have perhaps opened people's eyes to the fact that the Amish are real people who suffer stress and depression like everybody else and need parenting skills like everybody else too. Pulling their children out of school at age 13 or 14 can only make it harder for the kids to function well as adults. I can certainly understand why the Amish might object to a modern American high school curriculum, but why should they not be able to learn marketable skills or study family dynamics or gain basic health-care knowledge? Denial of even this simple form of education is so clearly a powerful form of control over their lives from which they have no recourse. If it's illegal on religious grounds to deny your children medical care how can it be legal to stunt your children's ability to make a living or select a doctor or perform any of a number of other tasks so that you can be sure that they will continue the way of life that you have chosen for them?

I would be happy to discuss by email.

Nancy Bennett nancyb@ignet.com

First off, a tragic closure to a very tragic story. Edward Gingrich committed suicide January 14, 2011.

Second, I'm giving this four stars because I suspect people who have never been around the Amish might not find it as engaging as someone who knows them, even casually.

I'm one of the latter. I lived for a few years as one of the "English" in the Fryburg settlement and got to know many of Amish farmers well enough for them to feel comfortable around me. I loved listening to their tales (I heard some of the best natural born storytellers I've ever known, one even dropping the "f" word in the context of a humorous anecdote), Christmas caroled them as part of a youth group (we were rewarded with some of the best sugar cookies I've ever had), and even had a couple attend my father's wake.

For me at least, this was a five star book from start to finish.

It's probably not likely that mine is the first review people will read, so I'm going to skip the synopsis. Suffice it to say that I found Crimson Stain to be a gripping story of a small army of people with good intentions that led to disaster, a subculture unable to understand severe psychosis (not to mention American society in general), and a glimpse into a flawed legal system.

It's a portrait of a perfect storm of worst case scenarios that led to a shocking tragedy.

And as of January 2011, add another.

Jim Fisher did his homework, certainly more than either the prosecution or the defense did. While he points out flaws in the legal system, the book spares us much editorializing. He also painted a fairly neutral picture of Gingrich, not casting him as a sympathetic victim or a calculating cold blooded monster. The writing and the story line were factual and to the point but well paced and it snowballed to a powerful conclusion.

I bought my copy used because it's been long out of print. I hope someday Fisher will be able to interest his publisher in an update of the book and add the final chapters of the remaining years of Gingrich's life which include him moving back to the area, a couple of arrests including the "kidnapping" of one of his own children (no harm came to her), trying to find a place in the community after being shunned, and then eventually hanging himself.

I'm a newbie to true crime novels, but Crimson Stain was an excellent place to start. This is not the last Jim Fisher book I plan to read.

Jim Fisher's account of a murder in a small Northwestern Pennsylvania town compares right there with Joe Wambaugh's "The Onion Field". One has to wonder that if the Crawford County prosecutors had dug into the facts with as much detail as Fisher, if the verdict would not have been different.

Fisher's detail of Gingerich's life, his crime, the investigation and the trial reflect his background as a lawyer, FBI Agent and private investigator. With Fisher's account, I found myself standing at the crime scene, in the lawyer's office and in the courtroom during the trial. For those that want to read great true crime, Fisher gives it to you from several perspectives.